Papers by Author: Goroh Itoh

Abstract: Hydrogen desorption kinetics for rapidly solidified high purity Al and Al-Cr alloy foils containing 1.0, 1.5 and 3.0 at % Cr were investigated by means of thermal desorption analysis (TDA) at a heating rate of 3.3°C/min. For the first time, it was found that oxide inclusions of Al₂O₃ are dominant high-temperature hydrogen traps compared with pores and secondary phase precipitates resulted in rapid solidification of Al and its alloys. The correspondent high-temperature evolution rate peak was identified to be positioned at 600°C for high purity Al and shifted to 630°C for Al-Cr alloys. Amount of hydrogen trapped by dislocations increases in the alloys depending on Cr content. Microstructural hydrogen trapping behaviour in low-and intermediate temperature regions observed here was in coincidence with previous data obtained for RS materials using thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). The present results on hydrogen thermal desorption evolution indicate that the effect of oxide surface layers becomes remarkable in TDA measurements and show advantages in combinations of both desorption analysis methods to investigate hydrogen desorption kinetics in materials.

Abstract: Friction stir processing (FSP) causes fine-equiaxed microstructure[1]. In this study, microstructure and mechanical properties of a 7075 aluminum alloy subjected to multipass FSP, MP-FSP, are assessed. A new zone, PBZ, has been discovered between stir zones, SZs. The SZs are composed of fine-equiaxed grains, while PBZs are composed of two types of (fine-equiaxed and coarse-elongated) grains, both of which are still finer than those of base metal. Elongation at 773K of MP-FSPed specimen becomes larger than that of base metal, based on superplastic deformation due to the finer microstructure. Local elongation is smaller in PBZ than in SZ.

Abstract: The Zn-22Al alloy with fine-equi-axed has been well known as a typical superplastic metallic material [1]. In the present study, The Zn-22Al alloy ingot of 20mm thickness was homogenized, either air-cooled or water-quenched, and then hot-rolled to a thickness of 2mm. Microstractural observation, showed that in the air-cooled specimens lammellar microstructure was formed after homogenization, and become fragmented to fine-grained microstructure as the hot rolling process proceeded. In the water-quenched specimens, equi-axed fine-grained microstructure with grain size under 2.1μm was attained and maintained throughout the hot rolling process.

Abstract: Microstructure of rapidly solidified (RS) pure Al and Al-0.8; 1.0 Cr alloys (at %) foils was examined with reference to near surface composition, solute/microstructure interactions, and surface topography. The hydrogen desorption from Al-Cr alloys was investigated in order to clarify effect of rapid solidification processing (RSP) on hydrogen trapping in specimens. It is suggested that hydrogen occupancy for vacancy traps in the alloys is decreased in contrast to that reported for pure Al foils and is related to the formation of vacancy-alloying element atom complexes.

Abstract: An increasing interest has been being taken in hydrogen as a clean energy for solving the global environmental problems. In order to use the hydrogen in safety, investigation on the hydrogen behavior is required. Although hydrogen microprint technique (HMPT) has been known to be effective to investigate the hydrogen behavior, the low detection efficiency for hydrogen was reported. Ion-plating (IP) was reported to increase the detection efficiency in HMPT emitted from the specimen by plastic deformation. On the other hand, no such increase was found for hydrogen permeating through the specimen ion-plated with substrate heating in the previous study by the authors. In the present study, the sheet samples of pure aluminum with 99.99% purity were dehydrogenated and subjected to (a) holding in the IP chamber, (b) bombardment with Ar ions, (c) substrate heating after the bombardment and (d) holding in air. Hydrogen behavior in these samples has been investigated by means of thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS). The amount of desorbed hydrogen was evidently larger in the conditions of (a) and (b) than in (d). However, the amount of desorbed hydrogen was decreased by the substrate heating (c) to the same level as in (d).

Abstract: Friction stir processing (FSP) is a method for controlling the microstructure that has been proposed by applying friction stir welding, FSW. In this study, microstructure and mechanical properties of a 7075 aluminum alloy subjected to multi-pass FSP, MP-FSP, are assessed to obtain fundamental knowledge for improving the plasticity of aluminum alloys. The MP-FSP has been applied to 7075 alloy plates with T6 and O tempers, and microstructural characterization has been made by means of optical and scanning electron microscopies together with EDX and EBSD analyses, while mechanical properties were measured by means of micro hardness and tensile tests at room and high temperatures. From microstructural observation, a new zone, PBZ, has been discovered between stir zones, SZs. The PBZ is composed of two types of (fine and coarse) grains, where the coarse grain contains many sub-grains. Hardness in PBZ is intermediate between that in BM and SZ both in T6 and O specimens; hardness generally decreases and increases in T6 and O specimens, respectively, by MP-FSP. In accord to the hardness change, strength at room temperature is decreased by MP-FSP in T6 specimen, and increased in O specimen. Elongation at 773K is increased both in T6 and O specimens because of superplastic deformation. However, local elongation is smaller in PBZ than in SZ, which can be attributed to the microstructural change by the deformation: grain shape remains equiaxed in SZ while it becomes elongated in the tensile direction in PBZ.

Abstract: Hydrogen embrittlement has been known to occur by invading hydrogen (environmental hydrogen) in some metallic materials under several certain conditions, although the cause has not been clarified yet. To clarify the cause, investigations on the behavior of environmental hydrogen in metallic materials are needed. It has been reported that environmental hydrogen invades 7075 aluminum alloy through the second-phase particles (Al₇Cu₂Fe). However it has not been clarified yet whether environmental hydrogen invades aluminum through the interface between the matrix and second-phase or through the bulk of second-phase particles. In this study, tritium autoradiography technique, TARG, has been applied to an aluminum alloy containing a single kind of second-phase particles (Al₇Cu₂Fe), to elucidate the invasion behavior of hydrogen from two different environments: tritiated water and tritium gas. In TARG, hydrogen (tritium) atoms that stay in the vicinity of the surface can be detected as silver particles. Silver particles (hydrogen atoms) were primarily detected on the interface between the matrix and second-phase. Thus most of the invading hydrogen is concluded to be trapped by the interface.

Abstract: Investigation on the behavior of hydrogen is needed to spread the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen microprint technique (HMPT) has been known as an effective method to investigate the hydrogen behavior by visualizing the microscopic location of hydrogen in relation to the microstructure. In the present study, the behavior of electrolitically charged hydrogen in 6061 and 7075 aluminum alloys with T6-temper has been investigated by means of HMPT. Both in the two alloys, hydrogen was detected on constituent particles and in the matrix. Total amount of detected hydrogen was markedly larger in 7075 than in 6061, although the distribution in depth direction far narrower and the fraction of hydrogen detected in the matrix with respect to that on the constituent was larger. These fact was presumed to be caused by the difference in the fine precipitates between the two alloy formed during final aging treatment.

Abstract: Lifetime of tungsten electrodes for fusing was investigated in relation to their microstructure. Tungsten electrodes with two types of microstructures (recrystallized equi-axed and unrecrystallized fibrous) were subjected to repeated welding tests where work material was a tough pitch copper. Surface appearance of the electrodes after the test was observed with an SEM. Circumferential edge cracks were observed in the equi-axed electrode, which were presumed to be initiated by plastic flow of the work material. Although cracks were formed in the center of both types of electrodes, the total length of them is longer in the equi-axed electrode. Therefore, the lifetime was expected to be longer in the fibrous electrode than the equi-axed.

Abstract: The Zn-Al eutectoid alloy has been well known as a typical superplastic metallic material with small grain sizes. In the present study, controlling conditions in hot rolling such as temperature, total number of passes, reduction in a pass, etc. have been investigated in a ZnAl eutectoid alloy to obtain finegrained microstructures. Homogenized ingot specimens were hotrolled by a total rolling reduction of 90% with different pass schedule. Microstructural observation on the final sheet showed that nearly equiaxed finegrained microstructure with grain size of about 2µm was formed when the ingot was waterquenched after homogenization.